Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney has registered a convincing win in Tuesday's Illinois primary, enlarging his lead in the race for the party's nomination.

U.S. news services say Romney won about 55 percent of the vote to nearly 30 percent for his top rival, Rick Santorum. The other two Republican candidates, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich, finished far behind.

With the win, Romney picked up a 54 more delegates and gained major momentum heading into upcoming nominating contests. A candidate needs 1,144 delegates to secure the Republican nomination and earn the right to take on President Barack Obama, a Democrat, in the November election.

In his victory speech, Romney said three years of President Obama have brought Americans “fewer jobs, shrinking paychecks, historic drops in income and historic highs in gas prices.” The former Massachusetts governor called for new leadership in the White House.

Heading into the Illinois primary, the former Massachusetts governor had won more than 500 delegates, while Santorum was in the 200s. Gingrich and Paul were far behind.

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